"We are approaching this Giro differently than in previous years", says Reef, who was also present last year when Team Visma | Lease a Bike won the Giro d'Italia with Primoz Roglic. "This time, we don't have to fight for every metre every day with the GC in mind. It's different from the last six grand tours we did. Then we always started with the GC as our main goal."

The sports director explains the team's priorities: "Our main objective is to win stages. We want to achieve that mainly in the flat sprints with Olav. We will also not hide in the stages where a breakaway has a good chance of succeeding", the 38-year-old sports director says.

The build-up to the Giro has not been smooth; it has been a spring full of setbacks. Reef: "In the past weeks, we've lost Wout van Aert and Wilco Kelderman. Koen Bouwman was supposed to replace Wilco, but he fell ill during the Tour de Romandie. Koen will be replaced by Tim van Dijke. He, Edoardo Affini, and Christophe Laporte will certainly strengthen Olav's sprint train. Additionally, Christophe will have the opportunity to achieve his own result in certain stages."

"Besides that, have been able to work towards the start of the Giro in perfect conditions over the past few weeks", Reef continues. "The training camps in Tenerife and Denia were perfect. Jan Tratnik, Robert Gesink and Tim van Dijke were able to put the finishing touches to their form at the Tour de Romandie. That makes us ready."

While overall victory is not a goal this year, the team still has a rider who can fight for a good result on the GC in Cian Uijtdebroeks. Reef: "Cian can take his chance on the GC. The main thing is to learn. We will see what he can do in the coming weeks. We are confident. We have been working together for a few months now, and we like it very much. We know more and more what we can get from each other."

When will this Giro be a success? Reef: "We want to win stages, and we will be satisfied if we win more than one stage. With a team that can win on several fronts, we will start with confidence."

The full line-up of Team Visma | Lease a Bike exists of Kooij, Laporte, Affini, Van Dijke, Gesink, Valter, Tratnik and Uijtdebroeks.

Still not had enough of the Giro news? Read the article with Olav Kooij about his Giro debut here! The Dutchman has already been able to collect some great results this season, so he will be at the start of his first Giro d'Italia with a lot of confidence.

The same goes for Belgian climber Cian Uijtdebroeks. In last year's Vuelta, his very first grand tour, he already managed to finish in the top ten of the general classification. The Belgian hopes to repeat that in this Giro. Read the full Giro preview with Uijtdebroeks here on our website!